Legion World Forums LEGION CLUBHOUSE The Legion of Super-Heroes Re-Reading the Legion: Archives Volume 20

BAXTER LSH #5

Despite providing another showcase for Steve Lightle's beautiful draftsmanship and Carl Gafford's dazzling palette of colors, I disliked this issue intensely, even more than the ones which had immediately preceded it.

After about 30 issues, not counting Annuals and such, Paul Levitz brings about a (melo-)dramatic resolution of sorts to a plot thread which he has been building up since the backup story in issue 286 (or the brief Orando scene in 285 where the King dies, take your pick.) Unfortunately, by this time it had long ago gone off the rails, and I still put the bulk of the blame squarely on Keith Giffen for alternately ridiculing the ongoing story and trying to make it more "realistic" with gratuitous gore and loose ends (it will, as I recall, take about six whole issues (!) to tie up the latter); the rest of the blame, I feel, should go to Levitz, for apparently not standing up to Giffen in any of his capacities (as scripter, or co-plotter, or DC executive), and Karen Berger, for seemingly giving Giffen too much creative leeway to abuse recklessly.

Yes, Nemesis Kid was a walking, talking piece of excrement, and in theory I have no problem with Projectra casting herself as judge, jury, and executioner. On the other hand, I have come in recent years to consider myself fiercely anti-monarchy, and Projectra's declarations of superiority by class and birthright leave a nasty aftertaste in my mind. More to the point, the rest of the Legion now takes a similar "ends-justify-the-means" approach to battling the LSV, and that's how they finally triumph. But Giffen's "naughty boy" contempt for the proceedings pretty much destroys any potentially meaningful subtext about the Legion needing to toughen up and bend their own self-imposed golden rules. Instead, they come off like a bunch of smug, sadistic fascists no better than the psychotic jerks they're fighting -- in particular, the expressions on the faces of Element Lad (bottom right-hand corner, Page 9) and Sun Boy and Mon-El (the middle tier, Page 17) push their actions past questionable territory into downright unforgivable. And don't get me started on the "THUMPA THUMPA THUMPA" slapstick sequence on Page 11 where a few of the villains rush the Legion only to turn on a dime and run away. Lightle may have delineated all of the above, but I will not change my mind that it was Giffen who imposed everything I object to.

Good riddance to Giffen, as far as I'm concerned. I only wish it was farewell rather than goodbye-for-now. After reading this storyarc (which, as I said, I used to like a lot back when I unconsciously blinded myself to its most negative traits,) I believe more firmly than ever that he was one of the worst things which ever happened to the Legion, and, to be blunt, Levitz isn't too far behind for me at this point in the Re-Read. He, like Giffen, just got too damn big for his britches, and seems to have been unwisely allowed by Berger to overreach (an admittedly forgivable creative sin) and overindulge (my pick for the worst of all creative sins.)

I only hope the rest of the Pre-Death-of-Superboy issues don't let me down like these first five have.

Cramey, I think all of the above are excellent points. Brava! If Projectra really wanted to prove her mettle (to both herself and her subjects, at the very least so they don't revolt after she allowed this disaster to befall their home,) she'd have had most or all of the captured LSV members publicly slaughtered. It still would have left an unpleasant aftertaste for me, but at least it'd have made more dramatic sense, as well as setting up the possibility of Queen P returning later as an antagonist to her former teammates (I won't get into the whole Sensor Girl thing right now, that'd take jumping the gun to quantum levels.)

"Plot holes" are too kind a phrase for describing the sheer absurdity of most of the resolutions in this story-arc and their potential repercussions. Makes even the worst of the Jack Harris/Gerry Conway era look a lot more easy to forgive by hindsight comparison.

I think that what you describe above so well is probably what Levitz originally had in mind, but somewhere between ideas and execution, his points got muddled. You certainly stated it more clearly than anything in the script or the layouts did, in my opinion.

Also, unless I'm remembering wrong, that whole subtext pretty much gets swept under the carpet for the rest of the Baxter run (or at least the Pre-Conspiracy issues.)



Agreed 100%.



Yeppers. And while I will concede that Levitz was most likely stretched out to the breaking point with 2 Legion books a month plus his executive duties, I still think all the worst aspects of this arc are Giffen's fault.



Nnnn-nope. And he's a creep, to boot (I still think Shvaughn should've slapped him after he forcibly kissed her in issue 3, instead of turning all gooey-goggly-eyed-girly.)



Considering how underwhelmed I was by GDS, that's really not saying much.

:RIMSHOT:

Thank you, I'll be here all night. Please tip your server.

Comments



If it was Ron Karr with the family feud going on, I don’t think the others would have stood by so easily. But Mekt is a key, and powerful, member of the LSV. His motivations have been clear since #1 and, reading between his chats with Ayla, he’s been talking to them about his ties with her. Even so, Sun Emperor did look to help, for all the good it did him.

I hope its cleared up next issue, but the arbitrary way in which Mekt’s powers failed him struck me as being odd. There’s no suggestion that Ayla did anything to cause the effect or that Mekt simply lost control of them.




Most of the Legion didn’t really get into the story at all. As this was early in my Legion reading, Brainy didn’t come across as the team’s resident genius. But I’d moan if he solved every case, so I can’t get it both ways

While Dirk’s reaction to colleagues being in trouble should have provoked at least some response, it does show a difference in approach to heroism between him and the stoically worrying Lar, which is good to see.




The extra, drawn out stories to come would put me end up giving DnA’s Legion Lost a black mark as soon as I saw the title.




I think it must have been banishment, and one that Jeckie thought would last a lot longer than it did. Why she inflicted the same fate on the Legionnaires is a bit of a mystery. Perhaps she thought that the UP would pick both lots up at the same time and imprison the LSV. Presumably only for the crimes committed in UP space, now that Orando and all its evidence has gone.



All things that would have added weight to a follow up, but that were never heard from again. I think it’s a common failing in “mature” comics. All cause (Orando getting taken over and Jeckie executing someone) and no effect (no repercussions like seeing who sided too easily with the invaders and Jan asking Jeckie to return with them).



Good points. They have no idea and its clearly nit been thought through. Presumably it was towards the top of the agenda for the first meeting of Democratic Reformists of Orando meeting, before their arrest. I wonder how they knew how to use it to get back later. Perhaps Zimyr put patented Legion World Mission Monitor Post-Its on the thing to help out.



It’s certainly a big step. Reading the letcols, they do seem to have thought about how far they could push things. Looking ahead to the rest of the run, it would fall back a bit into more standard stories, suggesting that Giffen was quite the keen one to push this. Post v4 50 and v4 are dead giveaways too

It’s a big Legion moment. And a memorable one. So, they succeeded in what they set out to do. It keeps within certain boundaries. Jeckie is written out of our universe as a result of her actions. As much as they pushed it, they didn’t go terribly far. No Dark Projectra would be getting in the Legion’s way.

Jan asking her to return seems like a bad step, but perhaps there would have been a trial if she had accepted.

Later events would really show this step as undermining a central pillar of the Legion, when Orando comes back. I look at the thought processes in brining in Earth Man later on, and I can see it going through similar steps. Ironically, that could have used a (contrarian) Giffen who would have highlighted just how untenable that move was.






Levitz really captured the motivations and responsibilities of Jeckie very well. The exception being having to take the world elsewhere, that I feel was a DC writer’s reaction to make the act morally more palatable. It’s an example, hinted at in #300, where obligations challenge the Legion Code, and don’t always side with the Code.




In all the time Jeckie was with the Legion, I wonder how much the local Orandians knew about what she was doing. Were they told of the technology available to them? Did they prefer not to embrace Winathian agrimachinery? Did Jeckie actually bring back improved medical knowledge that we just never saw? Or perhaps they were only told she was on a royal quest fighting space dragons. If it’s the latter, then some of the responsibility of bringing the danger to the planet lies squarely with the royal line.




It is very much a reaction to what has gone on. It’s a speech made by someone who has been receiving strong rumours of unrest. What better way to cut off the revolutionaries hopes, than to remove them from any external alliances they might have hoped to have? She’s securing her lineage in true royal fashion, so points to Levitz for capturing that.




We do know that it wasn’t Levitz’s first option. I quite liked Sensor Girl, so it will be interesting to see how her return connects with what we’ve read here.




There’s no way Levitz was passing up a subplot. It could also have been down to needing a fill in issue, or perhaps due to the Giffen to Lightle switchover too.




I thought that it was Jeckie who did that before her royal decree of “Now Beat It!” Having them share bubbles could have led to deaths. No, Jan isn’t a very strong Legion leader. Sometimes always being the bridesmaid is just saving you form a messy divorce later



The Curse at the end of the GDS had lots of potential, giving it an edge following the Dark God essentially making the decision to end his conquest. Jacques and Mysa joined around this time.

Here, we’ve had a graphic death back when there were only a couple of statues in the Hall of Heroes. We’ve also got missing Legionnaires at a time when there was already a call for new blood. So, both indicate a change of tone in the book as well as personnel changes.

More comments…




The “seen enough of each other” line, with a wink, was to indicate that they had seen lots of each other without their uniforms on.






Yeah, that was how I always read it. It works better with her judgement at the end too. But rereads always bring out some interesting possibilities.





When I was typing that, I was also thinking of the other Legionnaires on Orando too. I thought Levitz made it too obvious that they were plot pawns being moved around. For example, the multiple defeats; Val and Jeckie facing off against Hart alone; The delay in killing Jeckie while Ayla manoeuvres a shuttle into landing, and then appears out of it etc.



A downside is that a few of the Legionnaires come across as creepy and/ or a bit useless a lot of the time. It’s a stressful time for them all, but it could have been any grouping of heroes there.





Scrying replaces writing letters on Orando, after numerous pencil related heart attacks. :smile;.



There’s a mention of a helium dome created by Jan. And there’s a panel with a dome in it. Was there some miscommunication there?

If he was doing whatever it took, why didn’t Jan just convert more oxygen to helium when he had taken care of Ol-Vir? No need for Jeckie to kill Hart. Jan Arrah is a plotbuster.



I like to think it was the latter, just so it has some impact on the Legion Code. But I think it was probably the former.



Off the top of my head (who put the LSV on tiop of my head? Quit it!) Ron Karr was in the Earth resistance; Sussa joined the team in v4; Both she and Roy appeared in the Johns/Frank Legion story; Cosmic King in v6; Ol Vir we’d see again soon; another Gil Dishpan villain would appear soonish too; lots of them presumably in the v6 LSV story- Micro Lad did briefly for a start.




I do feel that a lot can be done with character actions. Particularly as comics have moved away from thought bubbles. For example, upon being freed:-

Cham may have wanted to avoid direct conformation, preferring to strike the LSV from the shadows.

Jan, understanding Jeckie’s need for vengeance only too well, orders a direct attack. It’s this understanding that makes him up his game.

Jo and Tinya see a strong love destroyed by the LSV. They watch out for each other during the battle scenes.

Vi is the link between Cham and Jan. She would normally have followed Cham’s lead, but there’s a fire in her to get back at the LSV and any group that looks to take over a world. She has Micro Lad to find too.

A few, dialogue driven, panels somewhere in there. A quick look shows that the Legion asteroid scene could have been shortened easily enough.

Now that you mention it, the LSV's bubble does look more like a prison.

I agree that the options appear to be limited, but some ideas could have been considered. Jan could have used his helium trick to render the LSV unconscious for the duration of the trip. The other Legionnaires are pretty capable of dealing with any attempts of mutiny that might arise, if they kept an eye on the LSVers. They could have also borrowed some Orandoan manacles, which would seem to be a good trade-off for earth's polymer shield which Orando kept.



A good monarch examines a problem from every possible angle.



These are excellent questions. It's a pity no one at the time explored them.

I like to think of Orando as similar to certain parts of the US: a backwater town which knows the rest of the world is changing but sees no reason to keep up. Their traditions have served them well for many generations; no need to upset the cranapple cart.

Since technology is ubiquitous today, I wonder how many Orandoans would have PCs or cell phones--and if they would use them to play 3D mah-jongg with distant relatives instead of updating their agricultural methods.



I'm glad they didn't go there. No need for Projectra to become an antagonist or a villain. She remains, in her own way, a heroic figure--albeit one with very different priorities than she had as a Legionnaires.

I, too, wonder what would have happened if she had accepted Jan's request to return to normal space with the Legion. Jan probably hadn't thought through his request. Likely nothing would have happened. Jeckie and Val had already resigned their Legion memberships, though they appear to have maintained some sort of reserve status--hence keeping the flight rings. In any case, it's a moot point as Projectra had no reason to abandon Orando.

Tales #318 Shadows of Future Past by Paul Levitz, art by Terry Shoemaker & Karl Kesel, Colors by Carl Gaford, Letters by Adam Kubert



Grev Mallor, returned to Talok VIII, spies on some rebels in the desert. He is surprised to see a priestess performing an ancient rite of ancestor worship. As he tries to record the ceremony, his device breaks and he is nabbed by The Persuader. Grev is taken unconscious to the priestess. She and The Persuader plan to take over Talok and are dismissive of Grev.

On Earth, Shvaughn mopes over Jan's disappearance; Gigi dresses to go meet Gim Allon, with some scheme in mind.

Lar is searching for the lost Legionnaires with computers when Tasmia bursts in, worried about Grev's lack of communication. They ask Nura for permission to leave for Talok VIII; Tasmia is angry that Nura was reluctant and refused to let a third Legionnaire accompany them. She decides that if nothing has happened to Grev, she and Lar can enjoy a vacation. He is confident that they can handle anything.

On Talok, the authorities gripe that the U.P. will not interfere in local politics, even though Talok has barely recovered from the The Fatal Five. The Lord Mayor wonders who has brought criminals and hill people together to rebel against the city, when they are hit by solar shells. Outside, Persuader is pleased with the action and is glad that the priestess, Lady Memory, invited him to Talok. She feels that he has already earned the gold she paid him by capturing Grev Mallor, and mentions old history between them although they're strangers.

Suddenly, Persuader recognizes the action of Mon-el, digging a ditch between the city and the rebels, as a shadow spreads from the horizon and Tasmia appears.

At Legion HQ, Brainy is trying to boost Dawnstar's power with some contraption that Timber Wolf is holding. Computo flies in and distracts Brin, who trips and lets go of the machine. It threatens to fall on Brainy and Dawnstar, but Brin quickly and acrobatically diverts it to its proper place.

On Talok, Lar is handling the rebels easily; despite their fears, they continue to fight, saying that the city will keep them in the mud no longer. The Lord Mayor watches from the city; he is impressed by Lar's abilities and believes the ancestors granted them a divine reprieve with the return of Tasmia.

Persuader cuts through the darkness to confront and threaten Tasmia, who blinds him painfully with darkness. Tasmia finds Grev, bound.

At Legion HQ, Brainy has boosted Dawnstar's tracking power but she still finds no trace of the missing Legionnaires. The experiment appears to cause her pain.

On Talok, Tasmia frees and consoles Grev, but he warns her that Persuader is not the problem, it's Lady Memory. Tasmia is shocked. Lady Memory recounts that Tasmia's ancestors killed all her forbears and now she wants revenge on the Mallors. Lar arrives and discounts Tasmia's warning to be careful. He collapses as Lady Memory opens up the full force of his memory.

Comments:
There's a richness to this story that makes it one of my favourites, helped by the delightful Shoemaker/Kesel artwork. I greatly enjoy the world-building depth added to this story - and to Talok VIII - with the history of city vs desert, of the Mallors vs Lady Memory's family, the disgruntled people outside the city, the stance the U.P. has taken with Talok's troubles.

Lady Memory is a refreshing adversary. She's alluring and mysterious, powerful; she's the keeper of ancient rites but is opportunistic and politically aggressive. We don't know to what extent, if any, she had contact with the Fatal Five when they took over Talok VIII, or if she analyzed her peoples' situation and just hired a big gun - The Persuader - to help. Furthermore, we don't really know if she's driven to act for the good of her tribe or for her own personal power.

Why The Persuader? Again, her decision is left to the reader to guess, but I think he was the most logical choice of the Five. The Empress might have competed with her as a woman and as more power-hungry. Validus was uncontrollable; Mano's power (or personality) might have seemed too strange for her people. The half-robot/computer Tharok would have been far too unreal to them and Lady Memory might know she would be outgunned by his power-lust and mental capability. The Persuader was more of an axe-for-hire; his weapon had strange powers, but it was an instrument with which her people - and she herself - might have felt comfortable. Perhaps they had some prior history, perhaps not.

Fresh out of the Academy, Grev investigates rebels and screws up, gets caught. The few times we've seen him at the Academy, he's been rather bumbling; he's clearly not up to cousin Tasmia's skill level. It's ironic that Grev is astonished by the ancestor worshipping rites of Lady Memory while the Lord Mayor himself invokes the ancestors' divine help. Has Grev become somewhat distanced from his peoples' traditions in his time off-planet?

Pride goeth before a fall; Lar has been overconfident on this trip to Talok. Everything was proceeding normally, i.e. he was easily winning - until he encountered the unknown power of Lady Memory. Considering the trouble he had with Ol-Vir, he might have been less confident of easy victory, but it's probably hard for him to consider a rabble of desert rebels a serious threat.

Tasmia, for all I love her as a character, has some personality moments. She's self-centered, getting angry that Nura didn't sign on to her concerns over Grev and send another Legionnaire with them. She doesn't seem to appreciate how understaffed the Legion is right now, despite the obvious concerns raised at the meeting, nor does she show any concern for her missing teammates (including best friend Tinya). Even in the opening scene, she appears to be in conversation with Lar rather than listening to acting leader Nura and the debate. She even sees this trip to Talok as opportunity for a vacation. Once on the planet, at least she behaves ably and as a Planetary Champion should, but her prior behaviour is selfish.

The opening scene is a good one, illustrating the various personalities among the members and how they view the current status of their group. Nura, as ever, performs competently.

The scene with Brainy, Dawnstar and Brin is a bit extended but, again, provides depth to these characters. While Lar uses technology to monitor and search the galaxy, Brainy plays more of a Dr. Frankenstein part, with Dawnstar a reluctant but cooperative test subject and Brin the hapless lab assistant.

TotLoSH 318

This would have been my second Legion issue. 316 seemed to a little bit different, not just because of its sci fi setting, but because of things like Polar Boy’s furry hat and the slight comedic feel to it.

From this issue, I was there until the end of the newsstand run. It doesn’t need to have an epic struggle, or a planet blowing up to get a new reader. An issue that ticks the boxes in good plotting, scope, dialogue and art will do very nicely.

Context of the Legion’s size organisation, internal disputes and problems are all given in the first few pages. But that’s just a launching point for a tale of twists and turns on a desert world.

This issue picks up nicely from the end of the Baxter LSV arc. Dream Girl is now in charge and chairs a meeting of a depleted Legion.

Imra & Garth are on leave; Jan, Salu, Jo, Tinya and Cham are missing and Supergirl has returned to the 20th century.

The team have 14 members, which would be a lot for most groups, but is desperately short for a team with the Legion’s responsibilities. (One team that had a cast of thousands was the JSA. Levitz’s handling of a cast that big is so much better than trudging through that title)

It’s not just the reduced numbers that stand out as depleting the team. Those who remain are with their significant others/interests: Lar/Tasmia; Nura/Thom; Drake/Dawny and Blok/Mysa.

With the exception of Jacques, who has been working a lot with Brainy – his main link to the team- all the newer members are on one side of the table.

There’s not that feeling of a team all pulling together when they’re all grouped within their own interests. Tasmia and Lar seem particularly distracted. This is a confident touch that shows the reader that there may be something else going on, without drawing too much attention to it.

As if this wasn’t enough, Drake’s “the Witch finally said something that made sense” is completely out of order. Even for Wildfire. Dawnstar tells him to hush, but Mysa is sitting right next to him. He says it loudly enough for Nura to hear it, but he’s not taken to task. He made a snarky “maybe you are going to cut it as a Legionnaire after all” comment to Mysa in the annual too.

He seems to have a real problem with Mysa. But where did that come from? That she beat the Khund that sucked him into a vacuum cleaner? Is Mysa the only woman at the Academy who didn’t take a shine to him? I don’t recall him having a huge distrust of magic. Is it a remnant from the Curse (following Drake’s boast) that was at one point going to involve Mysa? I’m left with the impression that Drake and Dawny spend a lot of time on those flight bitching about the other members.

With snark like that going unchallenged, it’s a team that could fragment further.

Dreamy is direct, organised and in control as leader. But she resorts to snark herself, rising to Brin’s comment and putting him down. She also puts down Jacques with a “spare us your philosophising” comment that rivals Drake’s for insensitivity. Imagine you were on the receiving end of either Drake or Nura’s comments. Would you put up with it?

While there’s elements of both in the dialogue here, it’s a bit off key based on recent reread issues.

Dreamy asks Brainy to augment Dawny’s powers. Her matter of fact way of asking about such a thing, might come from her own scientific background of altering powers such as Ayla’s.

Cos mentioned that the table seemed empty on the first page. That was a precursor to him bringing up the need for more members again. This has been a long running point from Cos. His Subs team comes much later on, and I hadn’t realised its roots went so far back.

Thom brings up the findings of the team back in #304. That none of the recruits are ready to make the step up. Cos openly wonders how many of the members at the table would have got in had they used the same methods of entry as the Academy students face.

Looking ahead to the members who would join, both in #14 and in later volumes such v7, would blooding some Academy students at this point have been a bad thing?

Nura clearly hasn’t foreseen any return of the missing Legionnaires. Presumably they will have interrogated the LSV members who got back, but they don’t know the outcome for sure. Nura is quite matter of fact about the situation.

With Jo and Tinya gone, there’s a power gap for Jed to fill. With Garth on leave and Ayla missing (and possibly believed to still be Light Lass and retired) there’s a similar spot for Tayla. Berta brings in a unique power of her own. With the Kryptonians gone, even Laurel could have made the step up. Her invulnerability is slightly different to Mon El’s.

The addition of these, at this point, would certainly have changed the dynamic of the team. No doubt it’s something that will come up again as we hit #14.

Rokk’s point is worth looking at too. Although I think that Nura originally didn’t have to lie down/ faint when using her power, it seemed to be portrayed as that later on. It’s mainly under Levitz that she’s become such a key figure.

Thom started out as a power house, but his mass altering powers were used fairly sparingly. I think Conway or Thomas featured him a bit more. But that was about it.

Blok seemed to have been brought in and promptly ignored in stories where he should have been given the chance to shine. His powers were rarely brought out distinctively. Dirk had super radiance while Wildfire, as Magno showed us, is very reliant on a mechanical suit.

Are any of those four Academy students that far behind?

The story switches from a large cast to the single figure of Grev. There’s a real feeling of increasing tension as he investigates the conflict afflicting his world. Horror is added as he sees a woman in a ritual with an animated skeleton, possibly one of her ancestors. Grev gets some good moments carrying out his mission, allowing him to shine (well, shadow) before he is knocked out by someone with little interest in the rituals. The Persuader has been watching the perimeter, like the good mercenary he is.

(As I’m typing this I’m just thinking of Luke Skywalker stumbling into an Empire plot on Tatooine only to run afoul of Darth Vader)

Grev is attracted to the leader of the rebellion immediately. When she first sees him she considers him to be a child. In v4, there’s a marriage between both sides and this gives you a hint on where the power really lies.

Grev is shown in rebel costume. The Persuader has a local cloak. It’s a little thing that really allows the reader to be drawn in. It’s a touch that helps to emphasise what we learn about Mon El in a following scene.

He’s the epitome of duty (his full uniform at the meeting), but that’s not all there is to him (his unbuttoned collar and cloak over a branch here). He has prioritised looking for the missing Legionnaires. But he isn’t rushing out into the galaxy to use his super vision. He’s using his technical knowledge to use the computers. He knows that this is more effective, even as he wants to be out there exploring space. His wish to be in space is a counter to his time spent in the Phantom Zone and is tempered by his commitment to the Legion. Levitz makes sure that a Phantom Zone reference is included in this scene as a set up.

He puts all thought of himself to one side when Shady wants to look in on Grev, who hasn’t communicated in sometime. There’s a very telling moment about their relationship when Tasmia comes in. Seeing her distress makes Lar think he’s done something wrong. You can tell that this is a reaction that’s come from a few things the readers haven’t been seeing behind closed portals. Levitz has a very solid grasp of the characters and their reaction to the others.

Tasmia is understandably worried. Levitz has cleverly used the first scene to show us how focused Dream Girl is on the team. Now we get the result when both plotlines collide (done nicely at around the mid-point of the issue), and Tasmia steams off into space having not been allowed to take anyone other than Lar.

Tasmia tells us that Dream Girl didn’t even want them to investigate. It’s not a criticism of Tasmia, but she has Lar very much onside. It’s hinted that if there’s an issue, then Lar thinks it’s his fault. There’s not much chance of Dream Girl stopping the pair of them leaving, if it’s Tasmia’s problem.

On surface reading it’s a heroine in genuine distress and her partner rather heroically thinking nothing more than making sure everything works out. But there’s much more going on that will feed into future stories. There’s a maturity in the writing that impresses. Like the reference to the Phantom Zone, Levitz makes sure to tell us that Mon EL is the team’s strongest member as a set up.

Rather selfishly, since the team is shorthanded, Tasmia thinks the pair of them can have a vacation if there’s not any problem. The Mayor of the City would have a selfish moment too. I wonder if it’s a City trait on Talok. The more duty-bound Lar thinks that the mission itself is a vacation of sorts.

From the start of Levitz’s run, he’s shown the heroes as confident in their abilities. We get that here as the pair fly off to Talok. They don’t expect to have too many problems.

And they don’t. Arriving on Talok they see the city under siege. It’s under attack by troops led by The Persuader. Mon-El digs a huge trench to sperate the sides, as Tasmia faces the Fatal Five member directly, as he runs to rally his forces.

(Oddly it seems to be Lady Memory who hails the sun going dark as a good omen, when really she should have thought the opposite.)

While it seems as though Shady will fight the villain directly, there must be a bit of distance between them as the writer feels a subplot is in order.

As Brainy sets up an augmenter for Dawny’s powers, Brin trips over some equipment while carrying a huge piece of apparatus. He uses his super acrobatics to not only save the other two from being crushed, but to align the equipment perfectly. It’s a concise look at Brin under Levitz. Clumsy, often involved in comedy scenes, but with an unerring instinct of getting, or guessing, the right thing.

Considering how much dialogue the three get in before the machinery gets near them, you’d think Light Lass was in the room too. Besides, the very willing patient Dawny, could have flown them away at super speed or Brainy could have activated his force field. Still, it was a good way of getting some action into a set up scene.

Back on Talok, Lar has finished his trench and he asks the rebels to surrender. In a great moment, he allows them to fire to “get it out of their systems” before he disperses them. A construction robot proves no match for his invulnerability either.

As Lar wonders if the rest of the Fatal Four are here, Shady evades the Persuader until she can get into a position to temporally blind him. It’s refreshing that there’s no concern form Lar over whether Shady can take care of herself. She’s every bit as capable. Although the rebel army is reforming, things are looking almost settled.

While the Dawny/ Brainy/Brin interlude could have been dropped, it’s really a set up for the distraction this one is intended to have. Everything’s all right reader. Look, another Brainy in the lab scene. We’ll be right back to Talok for more things going well in a moment. Brainy isn’t successful in getting Dawny to improve her abilities. But we’ve been shown form his work with Danielle Foccart, that he can take a few attempts to get it right. As he tells Dawny that there’s small chance he could cause her significant damage, I’m reminded of how well Danielle’s treatment went at times.

On Talok, Shady frees Grev only to encounter Lady Memory. We learn that her ancestors were wiped out by Shady’s family. Mon EL intervenes. Levitz has made sure we’re used to his invulnerability. He’s stopped armies, blaster fire and huge robots. What could this woman possibly do. She opens up the torturous memories of his thousand years in the Phantom Zone. As Mon-El falls, Lady Memory draws her dagger. Her possibly mystical blade that will kill Lar as easily at it would anyone else.

Another subplot is developed as Gi-Gi, dressed up for a night on the town visits Gim Allon, checking that his wife is out of town. This scene is intended to make you think that there’s something going on between the pair. Previously Gi-Gi was able to recognise Gim even when he was wearing a distorter. But there was a feeling that it was an early relationship, judging by GiGi’s reaction when Sun Boy became instantly jealous. It will be interesting to see Gim’s reaction to GiGi’s plans. This scene could have easily replaced the one with Brin in it. But that scene helped to set up a sequence to add to the shock of the cliffhanger, so putting it in early was a good plotting decision.

The scope of the plot is not galaxy wide like the Great Darkness Saga, or Omen/Prophet. But the cliff-hanger has just as much impact. That’s a credit to the way Levitz has built this story. It’s a lot stronger than what I remember of the next few Baxter issues. So, it’s not as though Tales readers were getting short changed during the Great Transition (or is that term taken for Orando?)

Shoemaker’s art is a treat. Everyone looks to be at their best, and he brings a real physicality to the cast. The first page, where he’s gone to the trouble of setting up all the relationships within the team is an early indication. In addition to all the touches he brings, there’s an element of Curt Swan (drawing Superman in this cover month) to the youthful faces, which is no bad thing at all. There’s also the shadow of Giffen (Shadow Of Giffen will also be a four issue series form DC this fall. It will be cancelled after three.) on the layouts. Drop panels and Mon-El’s whooshing off in to space for example. Again, that’s no bad thing, both technically and to have some artistic continuity. But it’s going to be interesting to see how far Shoemaker starts to move away from that in the issues to come.

Elsewhere in Li’l thoth’s month: JLA spotlighted Vibe (233), The Trial of The Flash would begin (340), Dr Light fought the Teen Titans (49 and Perez covered); King Alexander and Queen Bee fought Superman in Action Comics (562); Amazing Man thumped “The Real American” on the cover of All Star Squadron (40). Six titles! Seven if you count the Spanish version of Atari Force 12!

Comments on Comments




Yeah, there was a lot of backstory on Talok. Those and the hints that the Fatal Five had been active there before would have been nice reminders to older readers, but didn’t get in the way of the story for newer ones. No bloated flashbacks for example. Thanks for mentioning the UP stance on the hostilities on Talok. I forgot to add that in. I wonder what the UP are looking to gain by not picking sides. Presumably it was the City that looked for UP membership. But then, we don’t really know how justified The City is in its stance. Undoubtedly the whole thing is very messy.



She is a favourite



Perhaps the turmoil of events since we first saw the Fatal Five there, have increased the need for a spiritual leader to come forth? There’s a mention that all of her ancestors have been wiped out, so she came at an conveniently opportunistic time. Lots of spiritual leaders seem to start of that way. Personal power under the guise of (and sometimes in convenient parallel to) helping their people with a bit of checking off some messianic prophesy to make it all foretold.



A close look at the sky on page four shows the remains of Talok IV. That was where Lady Memory asked Mano if he could really demonstrate his power to her.

Like The Empress, The Persuader is easily a strong enough character to stand out on his own. Credit to Shooter for making such memorable characters and for successive wrtiers for not turning them into a villain team-of-the-month.




I think of all the non-Validus, non Ol-Vir missions Lar goes on where there’s no real threat. This must have looked like one of those. Although the Persuader being there, must have at least made him think of Validus.



That’s a really good summary of all her flaws, along with the recognition that she’s a very capable Legionnaire. From reading a Giffen interview, that’s exactly what Levitz was aiming for. It’s a more interesting book to have such personalities in it. Nura wasn’t making many friends either and Thom and Cos were at loggerheads. Lots of internal conflicts.

I’d be surprised if there wasn’t a bit of worry over Jo and Tinya off panel. I guess it‘s shown as Lar is looking for them straight after the meeting.



Next issue, Brainy exposes Brin to Zuunian radiation giving him the hump in more ways than one.

Tales 318

I enjoyed reading FC's and thoth's reviews more than the actual story. Not that there was anything wrong with the story--it's good enough, and I always look forward to spotlights featuring my man Mon. But the two previous reviews picked up on so many details and nuances that I either glossed over or didn't notice the first time around or even during the re-read. The world-building, the palpable tension in the meeting, where members are sitting, the ancestor worship (dancing with a skeleton of one's own ancestor--creepy!), the clues about Mon and Shady's relationship, Tasmia's selfishness . . . there's a lot more going on here than I gave credit for.

I did pick up on Mon's overconfidence and how it came back to bite him in the end. His self-assurance is understandable. How else should one feel when one is the most powerful sentient around, now that Kal and Kara are out of the picture? How else should he behave when armies come at him with ineffective weapons (let them get it out of their system, indeed) or when he can dig a miles-long trench at super-speed? Lar never possessed Kal's humility. To his credit, he does seem centered most of the time. Lar does not fly off the handle and go out in space searching for his lost teammates. He uses a deliberate scientific method.

Besides it's Shady who flies off the handle and seems to have little control over her emotions--or perhaps she controls them in a calculated way. The born warrior strategies in other aspects of her life as well, prioritizing family over team loyalty. She even takes umbrage when Nura cannot spare another Legionnaire to go with her and Lar to search for Grev. Like Projectra, Tasmia has deep cultural ties that go beyond being a Legionnaire.

Her relationship with Lar appears to be more complicated. Back in Adv. 370, Luornu cattily speculated that Tasmia latched her hooks into Lar once she realized she wasn't going to get anywhere with Brainiac 5. This calculated aspect of Tasmia seems to have been a part of her from the get-go. Yet she does not manipulate Lar. They truly care for each other and balance each other. I think he admires her spontaneous and decisive qualities; she probably feels his sense of duty and calmness keep her centered. In battle, they trust each other and neither worries overmuch about the other.

This sense of comfort and familiarity spills over into the depictions of the other Legionnaires. It is said that familiarity breeds contempt, and we see this play out in the meeting. When I first read this story (and even on re-read), I thought the Legionnaires were just being catty, as we've seen them act before, but there's a sense that the team really does need some fresh blood. People are sniping at each other in ways that cross the line from shooting the bull into personal insults. Rokk picks up on the need for fresh blood more than anyone; his comment that none of the current Legionnaires might have passed their own strict admission standards is telling. The team has become too proud.

As for the main villain, Lady Memory is truly unique, calculating, and dangerous. She is probably one of Levitz's best creations. She leads the rebel forces, hires the Persuader as her enforcer, and finds a way to defeat Mon-El in a manner he least expected. She is certainly charismatic and beautiful--just the right sort of personality to take advantage of an intense political situation and emerge as a leader of disgruntled people. The history of her family being wiped out by Tasmia's family adds a personal dimension.

As for Grev, it's nice to see him get a spotlight, but he's really just the MacGuffin to get Tasmia and Lar into the story. I don't feel I learned anything new about him.

If anything, though, the story does seem to go on too long--or at least the subplots do. The Brainy/Dawnstar/Brin scenes add little, except to remind us again how Brainy regards even his teammates with cold calculation. It was nice to see Brin display competence in using his power, but he shouldn't have stumbled in the first place. I had forgotten about the Gigi subplot; I still don't remember where it's going, but, yeah, it's a tease.

Because I so closely identified with Mon, I hated to see him brought down in this manner--being defeated by a woman with nothing more than memory as her power. In hindsight, I appreciate how Levitz set this up, and what it reveals about Mon's character--not only the overconfidence but how he has mentally shielded himself from painful memories of the Phantom Zone. We all contain mental blocks, personal stories, and other psychological tricks to help us cope with painful experiences. Without this ability, we would go mad. Stripped of that ability, Lar seems on the verge of doing just that.

I have got a soft spot for this story, this is the first time I remember seeing Grev in a comic and I think I was intrigued at the idea that he was a guy with the same powers as Shadow Lass but HE was the less experienced one who needed help to get out of a jam - it's not very often you see the woman in these kinds of relationships in comics as the more capable one and it is pretty refreshing....it also doesn't hurt that Shoemaker draws a really cute Grev Mallor

I always kinda wished they had done more with Lady Memory at some point....she is too good a character to disappear into obscurity forever. I hope one day I can come up with some way to use her in my own fanfic because there's a lot of storytelling potential there!

Shady blinding the Persuader is one of those scenes in a comic that has stayed with me forever, it's such an awesome visual with the darkness seeping out of his eye slits!

I think this is also the first story I read where Timber Wolf's super agility was really highlighted; up till this point I think I had always seen him as a dude who was nearly but not quite as strong as Superboy

The odd thing about Grev is that he appeared before Shadow Lass. He's one of the prisoners in Nardo's camp in Adventure 344-345. However, he is portrayed in the Levitz stories as younger and less experienced than Shadow Lass.

Comments on Commenty Comments




I was wondering how you’d se Mon El in this issue. I agree that Mon El is mostly a determined, centred hero in this one. I really liked him allowing the rebels to fire everything they had at him. Sipmly flying in at super speed to take their weapons would have caused a lot of resentment. Giving them a chance to fire, just shows them the futility of it, defeating their spirit as much as their force.




There’s a connection between Jeckie and Tasmia made in the Baxter issue review for just the reasons you give here. Both have responsibilities to their worlds as well as to the Legion. I think that it gives both characters additional weight and provides them with an additional, and possibly self-conflicting, way of approaching problems. Tyroc was another character who had this.



I ‘m glad you mentioned her approach to Brainy, as I couldn’t find a way of putting it in without being a bit too harsh on her. I can’t recall if this was just a writer switching tack, but it does give Tasmia that calculating approach. And that ties in very nicely to the responsibilities she has to Talok. She was off world in her first Legion appearance, showing that Talok was expanding its horizons. Tasmia is the champion not only of Talok, but of the success of that view. A view that must be being tested considering the lack of UP help in this issue.

It’s also important that the lineage of the Mallors continues. It hasn’t lasted a millennium (cue Tasmia as robot) without a fair bit of mating planning. I like to think that Tasmia’s natural personality combines effortlessly with her sense of duty (or perhaps there’s no separating them due to her upbringing) allowing her to pick Brainy and then Lar without too many problems. Both would be ideal candidates for the Mallors. The line has to continue.

I think the relationship with Lar is a nicely complex one, just like real life. Yes, they care deeply about each other. They spend, with Jo and Tinya, a huge amount of time together. They put their lives on the line at work all the time.

But behind the scenes, it’s had plenty of time to develop in other ways. Lar asking if he’s done something wrong is a big flag. That’s not something you say without a number of scenarios where you’re made to feel that you’ve done something wrong. It won’t have been helped by Lar’s sense of isolation at being in the zone for so long. He may find intimacy and relationships difficult at the best of times. That determined, stoic outlook may also work as a way of keeping some distance, just as he’s had to all this time.

If all this sounds like its one-way traffic, Levitz will pitch us another side of it. I can’t recall if it’s next issue, but Lar carries around his own fair share of baggage, and Tasmia is the person who gets him through all of that.



I wonder if part of Rokk’s drive to get new members on the team is the knowledge that it will hasten his own departure from it. A sort of passing of the torch to the first new group they’ve brought in since Jeckie, Val, Andrew and Hart. Actually, the timing of this push coming as that last intake has gone may not be coincidence either. I don’t think we get a scene with Rokk wishing Pol success, and Pol would have to get passes form the others. But that would certainly be a way of passing that torch and moving the founders on. It’s something Levitz has been seemingly keen to do for a while.







He’s part of a long trend of subs getting knocked out and being saved by the Legionnaires. If this was v6, Chuck would congratulate him on getting thumped and tell him that he’d improved his chances of making the team.



Yeah, the subplots are fairly low key this issue. As connected as the search for the lost Legionnaire is, there can’t really be anything huge happening in Tales as Baxter is now the lead book. So Dawny can’t succeed in this book, until the Lost Legionnaires have had their adventures over in Baxter.



I don’t think Mon-El being taken out diminished his personality or heroism in the story. Levitz has given us something far more powerful and interesting than lead poisoning or magic as a weak point. Having him be as human as everyone else, actually makes him all the more interesting as a character.



Yeah, that was an excellent panel. The poor Persuader would be victim of another one when Jeckie stole all his senses in a later issue.




Having lost his wolverine-clone look, it was about time we got to see what made him stand out. Although at the speeds Kal, Kara, Lar and Jo move at I wonder if super acrobatics is a bit of a fudge just like Blok’s density.

Perhaps we should subtitle the archives threads Constant Comments.




One of the differences between being an immature reader and a slightly more mature reader is that I no longer expect characters to behave as I want them to or as I would behave or think I would behave. It's far more fascinating to observe what actually happens and to analyze what it says about the character. I think this is also the difference between reading a story for escapism and reading it to learn something new. (Thank you, literature courses!)



Good point about Mon letting the rebels fire at him. Kal would have swooped in and gathered up their weapons without a thought--another difference between Kal and Lar.




This ties in nicely with what I wrote earlier about Jacques' interpretation that Lyle needed to be at peace. Lu was indeed being catty in her assessment of Tasmia, but there is also some truth in her words. This does not mean Tasmia is a manipulative b*tch (though Lu may have seen her that way)--only that Tasmia approaches the idea of mate selection from a much different perspective than many young women might. Tasmia has to weigh other responsibilities such as passing on the line, as you put it.

In my experience, most people use some calculation in deciding who they will date and spend time with. This is a good thing: Men and women both should want mates who are good providers, stable personalities, and who support, encourage, and challenge them. It's just that Tasmia (and Projectra, too, I imagine) has some extra, culturally mandated criteria to consider.

Jeckie found the qualities she was looking for in a commoner--and bucked her world's tradition in the process. However, as recent stories suggested, she and Val might not have been so compatible, after all. She resisted Val's desire to modernize Orando, suggesting that she held to tradition more than she seemed. Also, as a princess, she had some freedom to defy custom; as a queen, she does not have that luxury.

Nothing is ever said, that I recall, of Shady picking an off-worlder for her mate. Talok doesn't seem to operate in the same way that Orando does, with her choice of mate being approved by some authority. In fact, we get very little of Talok's reaction to their planetary champion being a Legionnaire and spending most of her time off-world.



Good analysis here. Lar's comment does leave us wondering what goes on when they're not flying through space together or standing next to each other in group scenes.

I must respectfully disagree.

Speaking only for myself, I don't think it's immature for a superhero comic book reader to demand higher standards and greater consistency. That's what pushes creators, editors, and executives to keep perfecting the process of creating stories.

And as for learning something new, what I've been learning over the course of the Levitz Mark 2 Re-Read (or, more accurately, the conclusion that I've come to) is that Levitz and Berger and the people they both answered to at DC were taking comic books, and the way comic books are made, through a very awkward evolutionary phase. I'm sure it was exciting to be there as it was happening. But for readers like myself, who read these stories long after the fact, they come off as shoddy and haphazard, making far too much of trying to smush together nearly 30 years of Legion stories which, before Levitz came along, had never been supposed to all fit together!

At the same time, I recognize that comics would have gotten stale and sterile without these exact kind of growing pains. And perhaps it is unfair of me to hold stories from so long ago up to modern standards, where superhero comics are deliberately created with serialized collections in mind.

But I also think it is cutting Levitz et al far too much slack for overly apologetic fans to...and I must stress, He Who, I like you, and I am not accusing you specifically of anything...constantly fudge the bits that don't make any sense whatsoever, and make excuses for creators who were working under hectic, expeditious conditions, and who were bound to screw up at least a few times along the way. I think there is a large, far too large in my opinion, section of superhero comics fandom that refuses to hold accountable the all-too-fallible people involved in the creation of these comics. That, in my opinion, is what has lowered the standards of superhero comics from both DC and Marvel to the point where almost everybody involved is approaching their job in an extremely unprofessional way, with personal agendas and vendettas poisoning the end results.

Superhero comics have become, in a word, insular to the point where the brand-new stories only appeal to a few thousand middle-aged, emotionally immature (there's that word again) obsessives. And I, personally, trace the beginnings of that directly to Levitz's Legion, and the way he (and other creators of his generation) wasted valuable time, energy, and space trying to get it all to make sense when they should have simply been trying to tell good, solid stories accessible to more than just a few thousand people.

I think you are reading much into my comment, Annfie. I was reflecting mainly on my own evolution as a reader since these stories were published, especially in terms of how I thought certain characters should behave. At the time, I had very little knowledge of literature outside of comics, so comics were my frame of reference (it was an insular medium in the US, even then). In studying broader forms of literature since then, I've come to appreciate the stories in a slightly different way. I totally agree with you about high standards and consistency. As a reader, though, I'm more demanding than I used to be. I don't want escapism (though there's nothing wrong with that); I want to be transformed by everything I read.



For me, it was.



At times, Levitz did go too far in tying things together. (I suspect we'll see more of this as the re-reads continue.) But I've also come to appreciate some of the subtleties he wove into the characters. As thoth and I both observed, some characters seem remarkably consistent and build well off of their earlier versions (especially Lar, Tasmia, Projectra, Nura, and Rokk). There's also the world-building, the development of the supporting cast, the backdrop of political tensions, and intriguing new characters such as Mysa and Lady Memory. Only a fan-turned-writer who cared about the characters could pull all this off. Most previous writers, such as Bates, Conway, and Thomas, did what they needed to do to get through the monthly deadlines. They spent little effort trying to construct a larger arc for the series or developing the wealth of worlds and supporting characters. That Levitz did so while doing double duty as an executive strikes me as remarkable.

I get it that not every reader will relate to the stories in the same way--whether due to generational expectations or other standards--and that's okay. Any viewpoint is valid so long as it's well-supported, which yours always are.



I think we all hold older stories up to later standards, to a degree. I don't watch TV anymore, but when I saw old sitcoms I used to love as a kid, I recognized how silly and even stupid some of them were. Series which hold up in quality after decades are rare.



I'm glad you're not singling me out as I've been very critical of Levitz, et al, during these re-reads. I've tried to be fair, pointing out when something works or exceeds my expectations. But I don't think I've cut him any slack. He raised the bar considerably in terms of Legion story telling, and that's why his lesser efforts are less than satisfactory.



If Levitz is to blame for this, then I suggest it is an indirect guilt--in much the same way that Watchmen is to blame for comics becoming "darker." Publishers pick up on what sells and imitate it, often by focusing on the most obvious superficial qualities. There was much more to Watchmen than a dark super-hero story. There was much more to Levitz's Legion than anal continuity.

In the Meanwhile... column of 318, Mr Giiordano hands over to Sal Amendola. Amendola talks about travelling the US and Canada in search of talent. "As we look back on the last year and a half talent search, the successes are more than merely "perceptible": Stan Woch, Steve Lightle , Mindy Newell..."

New friends met in San Diego included Norm Breyfogle.

"Mary and Tom Bierbaum, the epitome of the tall, blond, lean Californian couple, chose to take part at the Chicago seminar."

LLL: Lots of Legion Links.

LSH #6 Silver Linings by Paul Levitz, art by Joe Orlando & Larry Mahlstedt, colors by Carl Gafford, letters by John Costanza



Zymyr, with an unconscious Mekt and Ayla, arrives on his uncharted laboratory world and is annoyed at having the Winathians along. Cyborg minions arrive to assist him; as the two revive, he puts them to sleep to extract their secrets.

He - and the reader - see their life history in images. Zymyr provides interpretive commentary as he drains their energies for his machinery. Zymyr leaves and Mekt berates Ayla for not standing by him; she is unrepentant.

At Legion HQ, Wildfire and Jacques have returned; Nura, via holo, asks Jacques if he can find the missing Legionnaires. He cannot and suggests that Dawnstar is better suited for that task, provoking an irate response from Wildfire.

On Zymyr's world, Mekt and Ayla cooperate to break free. As they escape, they plunge into deep water and are grabbed by tentacle creatures. As Ayla loses consciousness, she recalls Garth's death and how she replaced him. The cyborgs arrive, rescue and restrain them. Ayla thinks about her time with the Legion and her romance with Brin. Zymyr arrives and the Ranzz siblings fight his cyborgs together. Zymyr has tired of them and sends them home, amid threats from Mekt.

In limbo, the five stranded Legionnaires evaluate their situation. Jo spies an inhabited planet and steers the bubble towards it, hoping to find a way home or at least a meal.

Ayla and Mekt fall from the sky onto Winath, in the place where Ayla was taken. Mekt still demands she submit to him. A child of Ayla's friend unsuccessfully attacks Mekt. Ayla blasts Mekt, telling him he's reminded her of why she joined the Legion. She defeats him and asks friend Sara to call the Science Police. After several days, she decides her place is with the Legion.

Comments:
This issue puts the characters in place for future stories: Ayla and Mekt return home, as do Jacques and Wildfire; the limbo Legionnaires find a planet and proceed to the next phase of their adventure.

I can't summon up much enthusiasm for this retread of the Ranzz family history. Interest in the efforts of Ayla and Mekt to free themselves from Zymyr are undermined by my bafflement as to why Zymyr bothers with them at all. If Giffen had written this, it could have been a comedy - pesky Winathians annoy the hell out of technologically-advanced Zymyr. As it stands, Ayla works with the enemy against a greater threat and works out in her own mind where she belongs, but why? Did her success in capturing some of the LSV and defeating her brother give her the confidence to rejoin the now-more-dangerous Legion?

The art didn't appeal to me, although I did like Ayla looking like an energy being when she uses her full power (which carried over from the previous issue), as well as her new costume. Zymyr's cyborgs looked a bit like reboot Gates; the buggy teleporter could have had a connection to Zymyr in yet another untold tale.

LoSh v3 6

>rubs face against issue twice< Me. Me. Me. Back Rubs. Games. Rubs. Games. Fun. Fun. Me. Me. Me. Growl. Food. Sleep.

I figured that if the Legion could have a fill in issue, I could just have a fill in reviewer. That was what the cat thought of issue 6

I’ve always found fill ins are a mixed bag of quality, often necessitated by deadline pressures or other behind the scenes mishaps. A lot are just filler. Better than reprints, but stories that can fit in anywhere. The better ones are planned in advance, by a creative team that knows when one would be needed. They can provide interesting interpretations of characters often with different pacing or spotlights.

I’m not sure which camp this one falls into. Levitz definitely planned fill ins later in the Baxter run. And, with the end of the first major storyline, a breather issue is often put in. With the two books running, it could have been seen as a way of getting giving some extra time for the main artists. But Giffen’s departure from the Legion certainly wasn’t planned, resulting in Lightle coming on board (with some Giffen thumbnails for guidance for a couple of issues), so this issue possibly allowed for a bit more catching up.

Personally, I prefer the momentum from a first story to be cemented with a strong second arc.

As the tide turned against the villains on Orando, Tinya disrupted a fleeing Zimyr. As the Gil Dishpan departed, he accidently took Ayla and Mekt with him. That was last issue’s setup to allow for a fill in issue here.

Zymyr has transported them to his own sanctuary, where robot minions await him. They subdue the Ranzz’s so that Zymyr can learn their secrets. Zymyr was going to leave our galaxy/dimension/universe with the LSV. Yet, he’s left a fully prepared lab, and army, behind on a world all his own. So, what reason did he have to join with the LSV in the first place? I thought his environment of choice would have been somewhere he could get out of the globe. He’s always moaning about being stuck in it. I suppose it makes maintaining a metallic robot army easier.

Through a series of escapes, captures and flashbacks we build up to the reason why Lighting Lass will be returning to the Legion. We get another reprise of the Ranzz family life. It’s the same story, with the cast sometimes varying and the extent of the fallings out differing in intensity. This time, Ayla seems to be protective of Garth and more involved in the plan to use the energies on Korbal.

She says that she left the Legion because the problems had become too big and abstract for her to deal with. The direct threat of Mekt and his insanity returns her focus on why she joined in the first place. There’s a theme of second chances through Garth’s resurrection and her changing powers too.

Not that Mekt gets any second chances, as he moves from controlling brother, to villain to psycho. He can’t get over Ayla not joining him. The theme isn’t extended to Zymyr either, who remains just a device to move the Winathians through a few action sequences while revealing their past.

There’s very little here that wasn’t already covered in issues 1-5. Ayla had changed from her happy life on Winath to seeing the direct evil that her brother and the LSV signified. She had been kidnapped as a retired Legionnaire, but returned to Orando to free people who were very much her team mates.

Perhaps it wasn’t felt there was enough space to have a further subplot in those issues. But it’s not really enough to carry the main part of an issue as written here. It does allow Ayla to return to the Legion before the others get back, and before the recruitment drive, giving her some space to settle in.

Other subplots include the missing Legionnaires finding a world to aim for as they float through limbo. Jo and Tinya support each other; Vi is practical; Cham is pragmatic and Jan is unimaginative (“Straight” is in bold ).

Drake and Jacques squabble under Nura’s direct leadership. Like Tinya for Jo, Drake defends Dawny’s attempts to find their friends. Little things, that don’t add much progress and stand out as such in an issue where the main plot doesn’t move much either.

It was always the final page in this one that made me go back and look more closely at Orlando’s art. It’s the same here. Ayla being waved off as she says “going home”; her delight at seeing Earth; her silhouette against the Legion HQ and her return through its corridors as Lightning Lass are all excellent. They all say a lot about Ayla’s independence and strength of will.

Looking back, there’s the dreaming Ayla above the main panels on 4. Her flashing eyes as she really destroys a robot on 9 give a hint at what kind of power she’s bringing back to the team. Her almost thunderbolt look on 8 is another really good panel. All the other Legionnaires have not only expressions, but poses, that bring out their characters. There’s a lot of little touches like that throughout, even if Zymyr’s menagerie look like ACME creatures. What is Zymyr even doing with a menagerie?!

The cat sleeps on, knowing that she now owns issue 6, and hoping for a better issue 7...

Baxter # 6

Jefferson Airplane had an album called "After Bathing at Baxter's," which supposedly was a euphemism for "after taking LSD." I bring this up only because Joe Orlando's art makes me think of someone taking LSD. That's not meant to be an insult; it's just that his interpretation of the Legion differs so greatly from Giffen's and Lightle's that it feels like I've entered another realm of consciousness. This actually ties in nicely with Zymyr's world. The art is competent and gets the job done, though the exaggerated faces and anatomy are hard to get used to.

As for the story, this is Levitz's first "solo outing," without Giffen listed as co-plotter, in some time. It makes me wonder if Giffen did not, in fact, contribute much more to the writing than he claimed credit for in the Legion Companion interview. It's not that the story is bad--it, too, does what it needs to--but there are a lot of missed opportunities:

1. Ayla could have shown some doubt about her bother's villainy and hope for his redemption. They work together to help get away from Zymyr. Why doesn't she hold out hope that this may be a good sign for Mekt? Why doesn't he express some joy at working with his sister? He could still be the patriarchal SOB who sucker punches (sucker blasts?) her once they return to Winath, but there should be some emotional highs and lows. Instead, Ayla verbally blasts Mekt with insults even while they are working together. She comes across as more of a bully than he does.

2. Zymyr is just there to fulfill the needs of the plot. We learn nothing new about him or why he allied himself with the LSV to begin with. He has robot servants (sure, why not?) and a menagerie (sure, why not?). He wants to learn the Ranzz siblings' secrets but gets rid of them when they become too much trouble. Zymyr could presumably send them anywhere, yet he chooses to send them home. See? Even a villain who has pledged to kill a Legionnaire isn't so bad.

3. The Ranzz history flashback could have ended after the Korbal incident. It really tells us everything we need to know. Even Ayla's long tenure as Light Lass is not germane to this story. This is Fanboy Paul indulging in Legion history for the sake of it. If flashbacks were necessary, we could have gotten more insights into her personality, her relationship with Brin, and her decision to leave the Legion . . . anything that might have happened "off-panel" during the published stories and would have told us something new.

On the plus side, the story concludes admirably with Ayla realizing that, as a Legionnaire, she does make a difference. She returns to LSH HQ with a brand spanking new costume--one of the more attractive ones of this era.

I never thought of this story as a fill-in. It completes Ayla's arc and showcases a vital turning point for her. But it feels like a fill-in because much of it is filler.

Odds 'n' ends:

--Continuity glitch? The scene at Legion HQ indicates Nura hasn't returned to earth yet, which would seem to place this story before 318, yet that story came first in the alternating narrative.

--Nura turns out to be a very good leader. She brushes off Wildfire's insult and keeps the team focused on the task at hand. She doesn't flinch as she assumes command in what is turning out to be a desperate time for the Legion.

--The argument between Wildfire and Jacques is childish, but Jacques has enough maturity to focus Wildifire's attention on something else.

--I don't feel we learn anything new about Jan and crew. They move their plotline along without saying or doing much of note.

That would have been fun to read.



I think what happened was that Mekt made her role as a Legionnaire real, concrete. She came to realize she could still make a difference.

Kudos for noticing this. It's fascinating to know that the Bierbaums were "discovered" this early.



I wonder if the review would have been more favorable if Streaky were featured.



It's interesting that Levitz himself didn't take a breather at this point. I think that shows his dedication to the Legion .... or obsession with it.



A crush on Hart? Language immersion?



Good observations. The last page is my favorite, as well. Orlando draws a lovely Ayla.

Comments



Zymyr’s flimsy excuse (Ayla tells him its all on holofiles) and narration really didn’t bring me into the scenes either. Later, we’d learnt that Tellus’ race had been subservient to the Gil Dishpan. I was hoping we’d find some hint of genetic manipulation plans. But it’s just an excuseto give us the flashback.




They are pests that he didn’t want with him. But he could have just told his minions to leave them alone. He could also have plotted something further with Lightning Lord, or just agreed to teleport them on their way much earlier.

I do imagine Giffen wondering about the point of it, and adding a few twists and turns in the plotting chats (presumably under threat of not bringing back Andrew Nolan from Zymyr’s lab)



I’ll need to dig out the earlier issue where she gave her reasons for leaving. I’d like to think it was part of a long arc, but I have my doubts. I seem to remember that she mentioned the scale of death and destruction last time. So, it can’t be that bringing her back. Here it seems to be the abstract nature of the threats that pushed her away, and the directness of Mekt and the LSV bringing her back.



The different interpretations of the energy form are interesting. Norm Breyfogle did a few good effects in a future tale too.



I was going to say that perhaps they were Gates’ people in exoskeletons. But Ayla took the head off one of them.



It was certainly a different look. That feeling of another realm could well be Orlando’s background in supernatural and creepy comics coming through.




Thanks for pointing that out. It’ll be interesting to see if the overall quality is just because it’s a fill in, or if its genuinely not having someone to bounce ideas off of and get valuable contributions from.

As you mention, beyond Ayla’s arc there’s no redemption for Mekt or much of anything from Zymyr. On the Ranzz one, Levitz wanted to drum in the second chances theme. It’s in bold after all. But, as you say, nothing that really added to the understanding of the character. Presumably, there’s some interaction to Brin ahead, so new Baxter readers get to see them as a couple here.



I was thinking that Ayla’s arc was all but completed in the opening story. She tells Mekt the reasons for fighting him there, in much the same way as she does here. By going back to Orando, she is showing herself as a Legionnaire. But I take your point. Getting her back on the actual team is a problem, if she’s on Ornado. Having an epilogue with her returning with Zymyr and Mekt in the first story would have got in the way of the pacing, and perhaps lessened the impact of Jeckie’s decisions.

So, you either put her with the other Lost Legionnaires, which would get in the way of future new recruit stories. Or, you do what Levitz did here, and have the story play out in another issue. Having some action around is common enough, and that’s what we get. It just feels as though there should be more going on. Perhaps less of the main story and more meaningful subplots?



I wondering how she’ll fare in the next election.



Jacques pushes the conversation away from confrontation. That may mean a new approach coming from Wildfire, if he can’t just wind people up to get a reaction.



I know they will be the focus of the upcoming story, so I’ll be looking to find out more about them there.

Cat didn't shred the issue?



Zymyr's motives are never explained. Did they offer him money or promise a whole new laboratory world? Perhaps Zymyr could have moved back and forth between universes, needing less energy than was used to move a planet. I would have liked to know what Zymyr got out of the deal.



Second chances only for the good guys? One might think that Brin would be next on the list. Alas....



The whole thing could have been condensed: tighter history, less fighting, leaving room for more subplot. Then it wouldn't be a spotlight on Ayla, of course, and might have required more work to juggle storylines.



Missed that "straight" emphasis. Shvaughn is waiting....




Zymyr as Dr. Moreau. Since his technology baffled Brainy and he seems to have sharp survival skills, he could be a formidable opponent. Unfortunately, we only see him again in Lo3W and later with Saturn Queen, but never in a solo confrontation with the Legion.



Not too familiar with his EC Comics art, but he must have had a taste for the bizarre.



Ayla did plead with him when she was held prisoner, but appeared to give up. I rather had the impression that she was just fed up with his rantings and continued attacks on her - without her anger towards him, she might not have overcome Mekt. He even attacked the defenseless young boy trying to protect Ayla once they returned to Winath. She might have appeared weak (and not ready to rejoin the Legion) had she shown him kindness or expressed some hope that he'd change. I think he (and the whole LSV situation) just pushed her that far. Perhaps later, in a calmer setting, she might reflect on rehabilitation.



Perhaps his heart (or whatever) was never committed to the Kill a Legionnaire part of the project. I would have expected him, as a scientist, to try and use the Ranzz's power or dissect them for some reason. Zymyr's motivations remain mysterious.



Absolutely agree that the flashbacks could have been better used to build the character.

Who's the passenger next to Ayla on the ship at the end? Is that supposed to be Levitz? He looks too young for Orlando himself.



Streaky held captive by Zymyr, rescued by Ayla ... talk about missed opportunities.



I hadn't considered the story from that position. Ayla was a bit of a loose end and her situation complicated enough to need more than an epilogue.



This little scene does portray Jacques (once again!) in a very favourable light. I don't recall that Wildfire becomes any less abrasive, but perhaps he will treat Jacques differently in future issues.

I'm more likely to destroy a comic than she is, as it turns out.



Zymyr can move between limbo and his home. He can move people between his home and Winath. His technology is behind moving form limbo to the other dimension. So, you may well be right that he could have gone with the LSV, but kept his own bolt hole back in our universe. Since the LSV were trying to get away form it all, I wonder how popular that would have been. It would be a weakness in their defence. Neither Ayla or Mekt tried to get Zymyr to go back for their colleagues. Perhaps they had more pressing matters, like their own survival.


Good point. I guess second chances are pretty selective things.


Zymyr: Yes, I have killed a Legionniare! Brianiac 5 is no more!
Nemesis Kid: I notice that you have a sheet covering something over there Zymyr.
Zymyr: It is nothing.
Nemesis Kid: Of course. Nothing. Certainly not a sheet covering a brain in a jar.
Zymyr: Bah!
Nemesis Kid: We said kill Zymyr. I'm sure you understand.


Just think that Val would have lived had the Super Pets saved the day!


Yeah, it looks that way. There are some ways of changing her conflict with Mekt in the first story, to keep her in our universe. But they don't have the impact of her returning by herself to save her friends. So plot points for Levitz.


Let's hope so. But he may just switch to another target.